Cryptocurrency Scammers Stole $14 Billion in 2021

• Cryptocurrency scammers hauled in a record $14 billion worth of crypto in 2021, a report has revealed

• Decentralised Finance (DeFi) was the most common channel for these scams as fraudsters had access to loans without middlemen and lawyers

• ”Rug pull” was a common technique employed where scammers built trust before carting away investors’ funds

Crypto-related crime is at an all-time high as cryptocurrency scammers took away a record $14 billion in crypto from their victims in 2021.

According to new data from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, crypto fraudsters found great success in decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms last year.

Losses from cryptocurrency-related fraud went up by 79 percent in 2021 from the previous year, driven by a rise in scams and theft.

Scamming was rated the most prominent form of cryptocurrency-based crime in 2021, followed by theft.

The research disclosed that most of these crimes occurred through the hacking of cryptocurrency businesses.

In its annual Crypto Crime report, Chainalysis revealed

“DeFi is one of the most exciting areas of the wider cryptocurrency ecosystem, presenting huge opportunities to entrepreneurs and cryptocurrency users alike,”

Read also: Top 3 Cryptocurrency Exchanges 

Cryptocurrency theft rose 516% from 2020 as $3.2 billion worth of crypto was stolen in 2021, 72 percent of these stolen funds were taken from DeFi protocols.

Also, losses from scams rose 82% to $7.8 billion, with over $2.8 billion of the total coming from rug pull scams.

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